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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (110025)	8/5/2003 2:24:49 AM
From: Graystone	Respond to of 281500

<<real problem>> or Why is the sky blue ? Americans and Briton may learn something about the character of their government from the inquiry, we will see. At the very heart of the controversy is the 45 minute claim, the inclusion of that claim is the sexing up that was supposed to have occurred. The initial inquiry has already said that Gilligan seriously mislead the public, no where was Campbell actually mentioned as the person who inserted the claim, which is what Gilligan reported. Gilligan said that he had inferred it was Campbell who made the insertion of the 45 minute claim. After reviewing the notes and tapes of the three interviews that Kelly had done, the BBC decided to defend themselves. Though it may not be central to Kelly's death, the BBC evidence of Kelly's assertions will be reviewed, it will be public. The real problem is that Mr. Bush and Mr. Rumsfeld are contemplating creating another army under US direction which they would then train as peacekeepers. The UN Peacekeeping Forces have been dying by their thousands for the last 55 years. They have striven to create lasting bonds and true peace in every little hellhole on this planet. Soldiers from almost every country have seen service as peacekeepers and have died for the cause of peace. It has taken the blood of countless warriors spread out over decades to create a viable bond of trust between all countries. Mr. Bush now realizes that these armies are required, which is good. The fact that he thinks America needs one of its own is the real problem

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (110025)	8/5/2003 2:55:41 AM
From: GST	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

U.S. accused of intimidation in Iraq uranium flap 1 hour, 27 minutes ago By Tabassum Zakaria WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson, a key figure in the Iraq (news - web sites)-Niger uranium controversy, accused the Bush administration on Monday of using intimidation tactics to stifle criticism about its handling of prewar intelligence on Iraq. Wilson was sent by the CIA (news - web sites) to Niger in 2002 to investigate a report that Iraq was trying to obtain uranium from the African country, but returned to say it was highly doubtful such a transaction had occurred. President George W. Bush (news - web sites) made the Iraq-uranium claim in his January State of the Union speech. Critics have said the Iraq-Niger assertion, which later was found to be based partly on forged documents, showed the administration had tried to hype intelligence to make a case for going to war. Wilson, on a panel of speakers at the National Press Club, said there had been several attempts to discredit him, but mainly through an article by Chicago columnist Robert Novak that said two senior administration officials said Wilson's wife suggested sending him to Niger to investigate the uranium report. Novak's column named Wilson's wife and said she was a CIA operative on weapons of mass destruction. Wilson would only speak about his wife's employment in hypothetical terms without confirming her place of work. But he said if Novak's column was true, then the Bush administration had breached national security by revealing the name. "Any time that a senior administration official leaks the name of a CIA operative, even one in the weapons of mass destruction business, what that senior administration official is doing is a breach of national security," Wilson said. 'INTIMIDATE OTHERS' "The reason for it was not to smear me or to even smear my wife," Wilson said. "The reason was to intimidate others from coming forward." He said when intelligence analysts see attempts to discredit him and the suicide of David Kelly, a British weapons expert on Iraq, they will be reluctant to step forward. Kelly became embroiled in the biggest political crisis for British Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites)'s government after the BBC used the former U.N. weapons inspector as its main, anonymous source for an explosive report that the British government had exaggerated the case for war in Iraq. Democrat senators Tom Daschle of South Dakota and Charles Schumer of New York last week called for an investigation into who exposed Wilson's wife. White House spokesman Scott McClellan, during a briefing last month, dismissed claims administration officials had revealed a CIA operative's identity. "That is not the way this president or this White House operates," he said in addressing a question about the Novak column. "There is absolutely no information that has come to my attention ... that suggests that there is any truth to that suggestion. No one in this White House would have given authority to take such a step." Wilson said that analysts seeing stories about him and his wife and about Kelly would question whether to talk to lawmakers who might hold investigations on the Iraq war. Congressional sources have said the Senate Intelligence Committee has not received complaints from analysts about the administration's handling of prewar intelligence on Iraq. "So that's what it was designed to do, it was clearly designed to intimidate," Wilson said. story.news.yahoo.com